Overview:
Though I discuss capitalism and economics extensively in their historical
contexts, I also bridge these ideas toward aerospace, fedealism, and private
endeavors. First, I will explain the differences of capitalism and economics. There are a few
distinctions. Economics is theoretical. Capitalism is philosophical,
just as Marxism is. Capitalism, Marxism, Socialism, Fascism, and Communism
are ideas and philosophical economic systems based on some economic
theory. Folks, many of the goals of these philosophies are shared -
but other than capitalism, they are just plain wrong. Capitalism is
the closest philosophical viewpoint and system that encompasses economic
theory in its entirety. Marxism covers capitalism, self interests, and
much economic theory, and is certainly taught in economics. But this
section will not cover Marxism extensively since this philosophical
system is essentially defeated. So then, why are these philosophies
and systems covered under an aerospace website? I think I discuss this
pretty thoroughly under the economics and americanism sections. So I
will defer you to those sections, but I will urge you to read through
the following sections for an overview of general economic theory and
let you conclude how this can relate to aerospace products, services,
and endeavors. I will also draw some conclusions in the summary on this
page.
|
Federalism:Throughout this website, I discuss econ 101. Folks, this year the federal government has a budget of $3.5 trillion which is $3 trillion too much and they are speaking of nationalizing healthcare - again! Hell, while we are at it, why not just hand over the entire private sector to the federal government. Or my prescription would be to slash $3 trillion, eliminate income tax, and turn NASA into a museum with volunteer staffing - and I could get plenty of volunteers by the tens of thousands! NASA was born in a time when it made sense. Kennedy was a visionary and understood the founding principles of the US very well, including less government and less taxes. NASA did great! They took extraordinary risks in an era that required strong leadership. But keep in mind Kennedy's old saying, 'ask what you can contribute to your country, not what am I entitled to from my country'. Kennedy had many similar philosophies of Reagan including less government and less taxation. Anyway, as usual, I will try to avoid politics and focus on what this website is about. Theory, innovation, science, technology, math, and space travel. I can not avoid econ 101 when discussing monumental efforts, and it sometimes seems that too many of us are lacking in a fundamental understanding of economic theory - especially the federal government. |
Barter Trade:Bartering is fundamental to economics. If I grow oranges better than anyone and you make great homes, I will trade you a 2 year supply of oranges for a house that you build in one month. Or do you want apples, oranges, and tangerines? That's it folks, that is bartering. |
Notes:I am worth $50,000 USD per year in productivity and I have notes to prove my productivity and earnings. These greenback notes are accepted internationally for all goods and services. Greenbacks are US dollars and are often the standard in currency measure. But notes may come in many forms. I could fabricate a document that says I am worth $50,000 USD. This note would not be broadly accepted however. But if my bank fabricates a document that says I have $50,000 USD in reserves, then this note could be spendable on deficits. Corporations may produce notes. A note may only be as good as reserves. But the intricacy of market forces may value your note far beyond a note of cash reserve. A society that is free, stable, and productive may have notes that are broadly accepted and highly valued. Generally speaking, the US system promotes the best in individualism and capitalism over a long and stable history. The US is no stranger to bad economics and hurdles, but we pull through. A bad economy can be blamed on government and a recovery can be credited to free trade and free people. Folks, if the government got out of the currency and finance business, corporations, free markets, and free people would still run the economic engine, and we would do so a lot better. Government is the worst financier you ever met. |
Supply & Demand:Supply and demand is another fundamental concept to economic theory. Scarcity, saturation, and consumer choice are related. If computers are in demand, and are scarcely supplied, early entrants (computer manufacturers) will charge high prices for taking the risk on production. As there are more entrants to the market, saturation begins to occur and competition for your dollars becomes fierce. Price reductions occur as a result, as well as product improvements. As manufacturers fight for your dollar, they will sell you "value" with reasonable prices and new improvements and functionality. You now have greater choice. What model do you want? What about aesthetics? As with any topic on this site, this is an oversimplification of supply and demand, but will suffice for the sake of brevity. |
Fair Trade:You often will here about fair trade and trade deficits between nations. There is such a thing as economic warfare - just to name a few of the ongoing wars. Ideally, fair trade is competitive market forces being unhindered by government intervention including insider trading. Theoretically, free trade is fair trade, and I would have reputable economists supporting me on this philosophy of free trade. When the federal government perceives that the US is falling behind on a trade front, it may institute fair trade policies. This could include tariffs (taxes) on imports. Folks, these policies are what puts us behind. The US government needs to allow market forces to dictate consumerism. The government are subscribers to Marxist philosophy which does not work - while handsomely lining their pockets. There may be one circumstance when tariffs and sanctions should be employed. The following section covers this circumstance. |
Tariffs:A nation-state may overproduce on low wages to saturate a market. Dumping is a classical economic example of economic warfare. You simply produce to saturation levels, you hoard your productions, then you dump these caches into the market, which can severely hurt an industry in a country. When speaking of staples, this is warfare. However, in a free and open society, you could never get away with such tactics because your operation would be subject to transparency! This is why government must fail at every level globally. Government does you no favors here or abroad. We only need the appearance of a stable government constructed by the people and a government that only does what it is allowed by the Constitution - and follows the founding principles. Why do I say founding principles? The government (congress) has the power of the purse and taxation - so they tax the hell out of us. Our founding principles go against taxation except for a few enumerations in the Constitution. A general welfare clause in the Constitution does not invite government into obesity and to be your parent and guardian from birth to coffin. |
Social Engineering (Taxes):If I am the federal government, I point a gun (and prison) at your head and say pay up. That is right - I am forcefully stealing your money. Why? Because people are stupid. Government knows best how to spend money. The government is just so damn wise - many are even lawyers! They can interpret the Constitution and the law a million ways, and they forget the spirit of the law which is individual protection and rights. Don't get me wrong, we have some good folks there who do not back down. They understand that less government is better. They are too few though. So, how do the arrogant ones engineer a society? Taxes are the answer. I will tax from the rich and give to the poor. If education is lacking in this country, they say we will give money to students, or tax credits. And too many of you are willing to bite on the $3.5 trillion USD pie. It is your pie and they ultimately line their own wallets! They move the money so quickly and bizarrely, that it sneaks past so many of us. There is good news in all of this. The banks that have been bailed out - well, they will want to invest their money in you and me. Why? Because we can accomplish great things with the cash! But, I remind you that huge deficits are a little risky. I will also remind you that we must look at tomorrow and the next 100 years. Lastly, subsidies and bailouts are bad news. If a bank fails, then the survivor bank is still there for a reason. And always, like water, cash will trickle as needed to the appropriate areas - despite government intervention. Having said this, we must be careful about abuses that are fruitless in government and amongst ourselves. |
Space Econ 101:Space econ is no different than any general economic theory. I will first look at supply and demand. Is spaceflight scarce (supply)? Well, it depends. Do you want to cruise the heavens? If you don't, then there is no demand for spaceflight. If you think a spaceflight would be fun and cool, then we certainly need to promote and develop space tourism. Folks, this could be a roller-coaster ride that is extremely noteworthy and comes with a great view! My memory is that tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry. So you can count in space tourism as a contender for some of those dollars. Additional billions could be tapped from R & D programs. As I have pointed out throughout this website, a full effort in space colonization has huge implications in math, science, engineering, and technology developments. So space endeavors should be a great contender for billions of dollars, assuming there is demand. |
Capital:Capital is surprisingly difficult to offer a comprehensive definition of. Marxism is difficult to define. Everything on this website is difficult to define, but I take a good whack at it. I will start by asking you a few questions. Is cash capital? Is equipment capital? Are resources capital? Is there such a thing as political capital? Capital may be an abstract concept. If my political capital is a 65% positive poll rating, then I can expend a good percentage to push my political agenda. If I have $1 billion in capital equipment, then I can possibly generate $2 billion in gross product. So capital expenditures are great assets in revenue generation, and in further capital gain, if expended properly. In the US, there are many philosophies of capitalism. Many think of capitalism as a limited pie. The pie is only so big, and not everybody can eat from a limited pie. I believe in a growing economy and a growing pie. An economy can outgrow its population growth substantially. As people acquire capital and invest it, they become more productive. I can produce more now at mid-life, because I am able to use more tools available to me. And the tool box continues to grow in a capitalist society. One of the reasons I decided to cover econ 101 and capitalism is because there seems to be too much of a lack of understanding of some fundamental principles. |
Marxism:Marxism is a political and economic philosophy. Some time ago Marx wrote a publication titled the Communist Manifesto. In fact, he wrote several publications preceding and following the Communist Manifesto. We can consider his writings as a general philosophy of economics and social welfare as well as doctrine. Some marxist ideals of utopian society include spreading wealth. People that subscribe to communism and socialism believe in taxing the rich (stealing from those who have), and giving to those who have little. So who likes this kind of a system? The poor and big government - generally speaking. Folks, I have been impoverished many times in my life, and I avoided any government hand outs. I instead worked harder, became educated, and made myself more valuable to the market place. When the economy improves, I want to take advantage. Why does Marxism not work? In a nutshell, private citizenry knows best how to invest and spend money. Private citizenry is active in the economy and on the ground unlike government. We have a feel and understanding of the marketplace. We know the tools and resources available to us. The minute government begins siphoning cash, is the minute it begins to kill jobs, innovation, individualism, and capitalism. When government hands out cash, there will be takers, and unfortunately, they will keep coming back for more. Socialism is not too far away from Marxism and just sounds a little better. Liberalism and Socialistic folks once again have tried to make their ideals sound better by calling themselves progressives. I don't care if you are a liberal, a progressive, a socialist, a communist, or a marxist - it does not work for the good of a society. |
Socialism:In a socialist government, the philosophies and ideas are essentially Marxist. You can have political and economic socialistic views, but they are essentially very closely related. As an example, I could be socially liberal, but economically conservative. Since this website is about space endeavors and the economics that will fuel spaceflight, I will not stray too far into definitions here and will keep the definitions of socialism, liberalism, conservatavism, marxism, capitalism, and communism strictly related to economic philosophy. So Socialism and Progressivism can be thought of as whitewashed words for Marxism and Communism. Folks, communism just does not work and is an utterly failed economic and social system. When you steal from the rich to give to the poor, the rich no longer have incentive to excel, be producers, work hard, and innovate. We will not work nearly as hard or take risks for profit, if government is just going to steal it. The reason I become a scientist, engineer, or physicist is because these are high paying professions. And as a scientist, if I continue to be paid well, then I will continue to learn more and innovate more. Even though I love technology and innovation, there is a lot of boring minutia involved. Without pay and profit, boredom and apathy sets in and I lose the drive to forge ahead. So when governments take up to half your money in income tax, sales tax, fees, fines, sin tax, fuel tax, federal, state, and local tax, the entrepreneurial spirit is stifled and crippled. And when they tax additionally on the wealthy, then who wants to strive to be wealthy? Folks, I don't want to be financially wealthy just to give it away to the government. Don't get me wrong, some people are needy and I have given to the poor without government intervention. I worked for the Salvation Army. I have done volunteer work. I have made donations. I have loaned money. I have helped in my community. And I have given information and knowledge away for free. So I do not need the government telling me how to spend capital. And of course, a poor man will never hire you for work. |
Summary:Capitalism is a political philosophy and a superior economic system. Business people, entrepreneurs, capitalists, and individuals take on extraordinary risks for the sake of profit. Without this risk taking for profit, you lose innovation, consumer choice, value, products, and services. In a social system such as ours is now, you stifle so much potential. Our economy has plenty of room to grow right now. Why is our government grabbing nearly a third of a 7 trillion economy? The government needs to cut its budget from 3 trillion, to around 300 billion which is just enough for a strong national defense. State, county, and city could also substantially cut their budgets in many cases. Folks, I am not making this stuff up. Historical, anecdotal, and empirical evidence supports my assertions. As you consider space endeavors, these principles will apply. I discuss econ 101, which you can read by clicking the link to the left. Space endeavors are subject to the same economic principles as tourism, farming, and manufacturing. I am sure many of us would like to take a space adventure. Hopefully someday a spaceflight will be as common as a commercial passenger jet liner. The only way to accomplish this is to convince market forces and capitalists that an investment of their money will yield adventure and profit. Once a few space ships are built, 80% of the work has been accomplished for production line manufacturing which will drop costs significantly and make space endeavors more generally affordable while providing high quality job opportunities. |
Pic Group:FOLDER: capitalism
|